By Daniel Trotta
(Reuters) – A recording of grand jury proceedings into the death of Breonna Taylor is due to be made public on Wednesday, offering an inside look at the case presented by the Kentucky attorney general that resulted in police officers being cleared of homicide charges.
Ben Crump, an attorney for the Taylor family, and others including the Louisville mayor and Kentucky governor have called for transcripts to be released, saying it is necessary to assure the evidence was properly presented to the grand jury.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has said he presented the grand jury with “all the evidence” and walked the panel through six possible homicide offenses under Kentucky law.
Though Cameron initially rejected calls to release the evidence, a Jefferson County Circuit Court judge ordered that a recording of the 2-1/2 days of proceedings be filed with the court by noon (1600 GMT).
The grand jury last week decided against indicting either of the two white officers who shot Taylor, who was Black. Cameron said the shooting was justified as self-defense since the woman’s boyfriend fired first at the officers, believing they were criminal intruders.
The panel indicted a third white officer for wanton endangerment for stray bullets that hit a neighboring apartment.
The result revived street protests across the United States against racism and police brutality, further polarizing the country as some voters were already casting early ballots in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
The grand jury outcome raised questions over how Cameron, a Black Republican, guided the grand jurors, a point amplified when a lawyer for one of the grand jurors said on Tuesday that Cameron may not have presented all the evidence.
Hollywood celebrities, professional athletes and ordinary Americans have called for the prosecution of the officers and memorialized Taylor, 26, a Black emergency medical technician, under the slogan “Say her name!”
The shooting took place while police were executing a “no-knock” search warrant in a drug investigation involving Taylor’s ex-boyfriend. When the officers burst into her home in the early morning hours of March 13, Taylor’s current boyfriend fired once, wounding one officer. Three officers responded with 32 rounds, six of which hit Taylor.
In the recording, particular attention will be paid to disputed evidence from one witness who said police knocked on Taylor’s door and announced their presence before breaking in.
Taylor’s family has received a $12 million settlement from the city of Louisville in a civil lawsuit.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
